French Dip Sandwiches

This recipe is from the wonderful ladies at Our Best Bites. My sister-in-law, Wendy, first introduced us to this delicious dish and we were hooked! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to shred the roast and how quickly it came together in the morning. I love when we find a new recipe that I can envision myself making it for my children someday. I'm sure they will love it as much as we do.

French Dip Sandwiches

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 packages dry onion soup mix
2 c. water
2 cans beef broth
6-8 large buns
Provolone cheese, sliced


Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You're not cooking the meat, you're just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices.

Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onion soup mixes. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. It's hard to screw this part up; basically, the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. But you know it's done when you pop a fork in it and the meat just falls apart. When meat is ready, shred with a fork.

Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melty.

Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!


***

FREEZER DIRECTIONS:

Prepare roast through the searing step; after meat has cooled, place in a plastic freezer-safe container (think Gladware), cover with onion soup mix and boullion, and freeze. When ready to cook, pop it straight into the crockpot (frozen), add 2 cups of water, and set to high until warm or, even better, simmering. Turn to low; cook for a total of 8-10 hours.

Sanpete Turkey (Chicken)

Yum, yum, yum. I can't tell you how much I love this delicious meal. It brings back the sound of thousands of people wandering around excitedly chatting with each other; the smell of grass, and dirt, and delicious food wafting around the crowded food booths. This recipe is somewhat of a local tradition. You can find it towards the end of May, as you spend the day walking through hundreds of booths at the Scandinavian Festival in Ephraim. Several weeks later, it can be found in one of the many booths near the Manti Temple grounds while people are enjoying the summer day waiting for the Mormon Miracle Pageant to start. Of course, it is always made with turkey from one of the several local turkey farms and served with piccadilly chips. It is just as delicious when made with chicken (and I love making some of my very own crisp and tender Picadillies)

(I just came across this backstory of Sanpete Turkey and I loved it: 750lbs of Barbecued Turkey.)

Sanpete Turkey

Ingredients:   
1 part oil
1 part soy sauce
2 parts Sprite or 7-Up
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp horseradish sauce (optional)
8-10 chicken tenders

Directions:
Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a medium sized airtight container. Place the chicken in the marinade and cover. Refrigerate overnight. (12 hours to get it really perfect, but at least 5 hours to let the juices soak.) Pull the meat out and grill it on your barbecue until cooked through.

Serve with picadillies, a salad and some fruit.

Update: If you don't believe me, check out The Friendly Kitchen, I just found that the amazing Camille Phillips (older sister of my best friends, Kayla and Tausha) posted her rendition of this Sanpete Turkey on her food blog. Also, another picadilly recipe from my Ephraim-friend Sarah at High Heels and Grills. Seriously SOO good.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

It seems that everyone has their very own "BEST chocolate chip cookie" recipe. Some like it thick and chewy. Some like it thin and crispy. Some try to dress it up. Some try to make it healthy. Some add random ingredients and call it an improvement. However, I am the kind of person who just likes a good traditional chocolate chip cookie. It's hard to know what recipe will be best. I searched and searched (always making another recipe that I had found) hoping to someday to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

I am happy to say, finally, that I have found the perfect recipe! This recipe hails from Dana @ Dana made it, and all I have to say is, Dana - you are my hero and you make the best chocolate chips cookies I've ever had!  I've really wanted to be able to stop looking for a different recipe every time we make chocolate chip cookies and this recipe has made that happen. I love it because it makes the perfect texture of cookie, it's fairly simple, and it's so so good. Also, it makes a TON of dough and I've loved being able to freeze the dough for those nights that we just need some cookies but don't have the time or energy to make them. It's awesome. 

 Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: Dana Made It (Please check her out - she's fabulous!) 

Ingredients:
1 cup Shortening
1 cup Butter (don’t use margarine)
1 1/2 cups White Sugar
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
5 1/4 to 5 1/2 cups Flour *
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 bags chocolate chips (12 oz bags) – 1 semi-sweet, 1 milk chocolate (*David and I like to substitute a mixture of butterscotch and chocolate chips into the cookie dough. Mmm... delicious!)

Directions:

Mix the shortening and butter with white and brown sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix the buttery/egg mixture for a full THREE minutes. The time is important for the eggs and butter to become fully whipped and to develop new chemistry. 

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, and salt). Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix. Then add the other 1/2 and mix.

Add chocolate chips/butterscotch chips and combine. (The following method for making the cookie balls is one trick that I learned in all of my recipe testing.) Use your fingers/palms to make a ball that is twice the size of what you want the cookies to end up as, then split the ball in half and place on the ungreased cookie sheet with the broken side up. This gives your cookie a nice textured top with a nice shape. Place about 12-15 cookies per sheet (depending on how big you want to make them.)  

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes or just until the cookies are (just barely) slightly golden on top. If you wait till the cookies are entirely golden on the outside, it’s too late. They’ll be overcooked. You want them to be soft inside. Allow them to cool for a few minutes and transfer to a cooking rack. 

Enjoy hot! 

Dana includes some key points in this recipe, these are the ones that I think really need reiterating:
1. Use shortening and butter. The shortening is what gives the cookie a slight crispness around the edges while still feeling soft inside.

2. Mix the buttery/egg mixture for a full THREE minutes. 

Freezing Cookie Dough Loaves:

This recipe makes a lot of cookies, you could go ahead and bake them all - or you can freeze the rest of it into cookie dough loaves and then have freshly baked cookies any time you want!

* Divide the dough up into 2 or 3 piles.
* Set a pile onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use it and your hands to shape each pile into a loaf.
* Roll them up inside of the plastic wrap.
* Wrap each loaf with tinfoil. 

* Label your tinfoil package and write the date you made the cookie dough. 

You can choose to place them all in a ziplock bag together, or leave them separate. Then put them in the freezer!

When you’re ready to bake a few cookies, take out a cookie loaf. Defrost it for about 20 seconds. Make dough balls like above and bake them for 8-9 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Country Pasta with Mozzarella

I had some leftover mozzarella cheese and so I found this recipe online at "Buns in my oven..." to try. I was texting David and I told him that I was thinking of making a new recipe for dinner. He said, "Great, what is it?" I responded that it was bacon chicken broccoli pasta. He replied with something to the effect of, "Fantastic, What could be better than bacon, chicken, and cheese?" And that, my friends, is the true motto of "The Peaden Kitchen." Nothing is better than bacon, chicken, and cheese. Nothing.

recipe from here.

Ingredients:

8 ounces farfalle pasta
8 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

2. In large skillet, cook the bacon until almost crisp. To the pan, add broccoli and garlic. Cook until the broccoli is slightly tender, stirring often, about 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Pour in the cooked pasta, mozzarella, parmesan, cayenne and parsley. Stir together over very low heat until the cheese is melted.

Italian Chicken and Potatoes

This is easily one of my very favorite go-to meals. It is delicious, easy, and can be served to company when an impressive and delicious dinner is needed.  Yum, yum, yum.

Italian Chicken and Potatoes
Source: Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:
5-6 chicken tenders (we love these because they are perfect serving sized portions)
4-5 potatoes
Italian salad dressing (I generally use about 1/4 of a bottle)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut potatoes into wedges and boil on the stovetop for 5 minutes (just enough to soften them up a tad bit.) While potatoes are boiling, brown the chicken tenders in a little bit of oil on the stovetop. Salt and pepper to taste. Place potatoes and chicken into 9 x 13 pan. Drizzle Italian dressing over chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle garlic salt and Parmesan cheese over chicken and potatoes. Bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and tops are browned.

Such a yummy meal and SO so easy. (Sometimes I even skip browning the chicken before adding it to the pan.) Happy eating!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Mmmm... I absolutely love these meatballs. My family used to make them when I was growing up - and I always looked forward to them. David doesn't love this meal, but he humors me when I start craving it and whip up a big batch. Mmmm.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Source: The Walker Family

Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cups rolled oats
3 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Combine all ingredients; mix well. Form into about 12 balls*, each about 2 inches in diameter. Place in casserole dish. Cover with sauce (below). Add pineapple chunks Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Makes 4-5 servings, 2-3 meatballs each. Serve over rice.
*Meatballs can be made smaller for more.

Sauce: (In all honesty - I usually triple this. I really like things saucy.)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 can pineapple chunks (*optional. I don't usually add these because David doesn't like pineapple - but let me tell you - it is delicious if you do.)

Combine top five ingredients in a sauce pan. Heat until boiling, add pineapple (if desired) and pour over meatballs.

Mozzarella Chicken

David and I ate this for dinner tonight. I made too much sauce - so it was a little soupy. But David liked it and so onto the blog it goes!

Recipe from here.

Mozzarella Chicken

6-9 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried basil
Mozzarella Sauce (see recipe below)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp paprika

Dip chicken into eggs; then coat with bread crumbs. Heat butter in large skillet until melted. Cook chicken over medium heat in skillet until golden brown on all sides. Stir in tomato sauce and basil; reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until done approx. 20-30 minutes.

Prepare Mozzarella Sauce.

Mozzarella Sauce
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne red pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half-n-half
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat butter in small sauce pan until melted. Blend in flour, salt and red pepper. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly, remove from heat. Stir in broth and half-n-half; then heat to a boil. Boil and stir one minute; then add shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Once chicken is completely cooked arrange pieces into an ungreased baking dish. Spoon mozzarella sauce over chicken pieces, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and paprika. Set oven to 550 or broil; place baking dish in oven for 6-7 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly around edges.